After sufficient data has been collected and graphed, progress is evaluated against the student’s instructional or behavioral goal to determine whether the student is making sufficient progress.  If the trendline is below the goal or aimline, then the response is not (yet) adequate and we move to the next step in the intensification process. In most cases, students with severe and persistent learning needs, including students with disabilities, will require several rounds of adaptation before progress is sufficient.  If at any time the team suspects a disability, a special education evaluation referral should be initiated. The data collected through intensification can be used in the referral and evaluation processes.

When progress in response to an intervention implemented with fidelity is inadequate, teams need to dig deeper. In this step of DBI, teams engage in a diagnostic process to develop a hypothesis about the potential cause(s) of the student’s academic and/or behavioral difficulties. This hypothesis drives the team’s decisions about how best to support the student and adapt the intervention. This process starts with informal approaches, such as error analysis of frequent progress monitoring data or intervention program mastery data; review of class assessments and work samples; or administration of standardized tools available through publishers. In the behavior domain, diagnostic assessment may occur through less formal function-based analysis (i.e., FACTS) or more formal functional behavioral assessment (i.e., FBA). Additionally, teams should consider student voice in the development of intensification plans, especially at the secondary level. In Rhode Island’s model, since academic and behavioral needs don’t exist separate from one another, we conceptualize a diagnostic process that hypothesizes if the needs is an “isn’t doing” (i.e., relationship, engagement and motivation), a “trouble doing” (i.e., difficulty performing the skill automatically and generalizing it to new situations), or a “can’t do” (i.e., skill deficit/instructional mismatch possibly indicating need for a different intervention)

After completing a diagnostic process and hypothesizing the nature of a student's struggle, the team moves on to plan adaptations to better meet these individual needs. The plan often identifies a clear focus (i.e., addressing student barriers to intervention fidelity such as absences, addressing a ‘isn’t doing’, a ‘trouble doing’, or a ‘can’t do’).  The intensification plan also defines who is responsible for which part of the plan and by when. Finally, the team sets the date when they will come together after having implemented the intensification plan to see if it worked. Recall that students with the most complex needs, including students with disabilities, may require several rounds of adaptation before progress is sufficient. The process repeats until we figure it out - together.  Go team!